Reaching Out
by maverickangel35
Summary: My attempt at expanding the selection of Judging Amy fanfic... it's got Bruce and Amy and Maxine and David and Donna and Lauren and all kinds of fun people in it, so... go ahead! Read and review!
1. Le Beginning

Title: Reaching Out  
  
Rating: PG-13 (just to be on the safe side)  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the television show, and if you sue me, I shall get very very upset and possibly cry, so... let's not go there, yes?  
  
Spoilers: Ok, here's where it gets a little tricky, boys and girls. I'm pulling out the "Creative License" card and playing it with a vengeance. Why? Because I can. Here goes: I am picking and choosing which parts of the season finale have and have not happened to suit my needs (and because if I guess what's going to happen and guess wrong, this story'll go downhill FAST when the next season starts. So in my little world of this fanfic, keep the following in mind.  
1) YES, Amy and David slept together that one time. This story picks up pretty soon after that night, so it was only once (that is all my poor little mind can handle at this time, lol)  
2) YES, David did run off after that fateful night, but in this story we're going to decide that the call wound up being a false alarm because I don't want to mess with the Kelly storyline—there's just too many ways to get stuck in there, so we're leaving it at that.  
3) NO, that bad, bad case at the end of last season did not happen—Amy's not in trouble, and all will continue in her usual court as normal. (I told you this could be tricky!)  
4) YES, Vincent is still back—the reason he's back may differ from the reason we're given when the new season starts, but for this fic, my reason stands.  
5) YES, Kyle has still quit his job at the hospital (which is all well and good because I don't know anything about medicine anyway, lol) and will, I guess, be working on the bomb squad or whatever.  
  
AND SO... those are some things to keep in mind while reading. Make it easier to understand. But also remember that I have this REALLY annoying habit of either not finishing stories at all or taking entirely too long do so (as many will agree...) it could be ages before this is finished, and that means that by the time this is done, Amy could be married to the president, Maxine could have discovered an alternative to fuel, and Lauren could be 30. Regardless, those things will NOT have happened in my fic, no matter how many years in the future it goes. The universe I have picked NOW is the universe in which I will remain. Let the reader beware. : )

* * *

  
"LAUREN! I'm not going to call you again, let's go!" Amy rifled through the papers on the counter a few times before lunging for an orange that was beginning to roll off the counter and knocking the entire stack to the floor in the process. "Lauren!"  
  
"You know, Amy, perhaps she would come the FIRST time you tell her you won't call her again if, in fact, you refrained from calling her again," Maxine said dryly, coming down the stairs in her robe. "What on earth are you doing?"  
  
"Lauren's test is in here somewhere and I can't find it..." Amy muttered, sitting on the kitchen floor and scanning the papers. "I think I mixed it up with the motions I was reading last night, and she needs to turn it in today and it's not here..."  
  
"Well of course it's not there, dear, you left it on Lauren's desk before you went to bed last night. I'm sure she has it," Maxine said to the inside of her coffee cup as she raised an eyebrow at the newspaper. Amy let the sheet she was holding flutter back to the ground.  
  
"Lauren has it?"  
  
"I would be very surprised if she didn't."  
  
"LAUREN!"  
  
"What?" Amy spun around to see her daughter standing behind her. "Mom, what are you doing? I'm going to be late."  
  
Maxine snickered as Amy hauled herself off the floor and hurried Lauren out the door.

* * *

  
"Judge Gray."  
  
"I am not late."  
  
"I didn't say you were."  
  
"Then quit thinking it," Amy said, digging for the keys to her chambers. Bruce rolled his eyes and extended one of the hands he'd been holding behind his back. Amy gaped at the offering and took it reverently, sparing only a moment to thank him before she took a bracing gulp of the coffee.  
  
"I love you," she said around a half-burned tongue. "Ah-ha!"  
  
"Find your keys?"  
  
"Yes I did," she said, and let them into her rooms, closing the door behind them. "So what brought this on?" Bruce turned to see what she meant, and she raised her cup in silent toast as he sipped his own. "I seem to recall a time not so long ago that you were absolutely TERRIFIED of the impropriety of coffee-sharing amongst co-workers. Has something changed that I should be aware of?"  
  
"I had a coupon," he said sardonically. "It was either you or Donna, whoever I saw first."  
  
"You are such a liar."  
  
"You're the judge," he said nonchalantly. "Speaking of which, we should talk a bit about this first hearing you've got with the Brenners, foster parents who have a girl named Kaitlin..."  
  
"Refresh my memory," Amy said, looking around her desk for a clear spot to put her coffee down.  
  
"You haven't seen her before, but it's mostly small stuff; skipping school, a few cases of shoplifting, but nothing big... hasn't moved on to the gun-wielding psychopath—" Bruce stopped suddenly and looked up. Amy was staring at him. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry..." he put a hand to his forehead. "It's... just been a long week."  
  
"You gonna be ok for today? It's Friday, if you want to take off, make it a three-day weekend, clear your head..."  
  
"No—no. Judge Gray." Bruce shook his head sharply and handed her the information. "Never mind. You have ten minutes."  
  
"Bruce..." But he was on his way out the door, barely getting nicked by Donna as she barreled in past him.  
  
"Judge Gray!"  
  
"Good morning, Donna."  
  
"You've got a message from David McLaren."  
  
"Oh... great." Amy looked up, but Bruce was gone already. "What did he want?"  
  
"Wants to take you out tomorrow night," Donna said slyly, and Amy raised an eyebrow at her. "Well? Why not? What happened NOW?"  
  
"Donna..."  
  
"Got it. I'll... go that way. And to the right." Donna stumbled out, leaving the message sitting on the ledge near the door. Amy wandered over slowly and picked it up, looking at it.  
  
"What the hell," she sighed, and put it in her pocket before moving to change into her robes so she could get to court. 


	2. Kaitlin's Case

"We are here about the situation regarding one... Kaitlin Brenner, age 13, who has been in the foster care system since..."  
  
"Since she was two, your honor." The girl's lawyer stood and spoke to Amy. "The Brenners have been parents to Kaitlin in every sense of the word since her mother died."  
  
"And what about her father?"  
  
"Her father left before she was born and never surfaced again after the fact. His signature is not on the birth certificate, and no one seems to know who he is. He is not a part of this equation."  
  
"Well, I believe I'll decide that, but for now, let's just concentrate on the matter at hand, shall we?" Amy said, motioning for the lawyer to sit down. The state's representative stood then and made HIS thoughts clear on the matter.  
  
"Your honor, I believe Miss Freeman has made it clear that Kaitlin is one of those many unfortunate children that have no parents and is trying to evoke your sympathy, but..."  
  
"Kaitlin has parents!" Mr. Brenner said loudly from behind his foster child's table. "Becca and I have been her parents—"  
  
"Your honor, that has nothing to do—"  
  
"OK!" Amy silenced them all with one word. "That is enough. Now. Mr..."  
  
"Harold Leigh, your honor."  
  
"Mr. Leigh. You see these robes I'm wearing? See how they're kind of frayed at the sleeves here, and they maybe look a bit wrinkled? That's because I've been doing this for a while, even if you have not." The lawyer bristled at the implication, but remained silent. "You will therefore keep your comments to the facts relative to this specific case, BOTH of you, am I understood?"  
  
The lawyers nodded their assent.  
  
"Ok, then. Kaitlin." The girl looked up. "You're thirteen? That puts you in what? The eighth grade?"  
  
Kaitlin looked at Miss Freeman, and the woman nodded for her to stand and answer. "Yes, your honor."  
  
"Well, I see here that you're a very good student. Straight A's, you're a member of your school's basketball team, your teachers have given you good conduct marks in class..." Amy closed the file and folded her hands. "What are you doing in my courtroom?" Kaitlin shrugged her shoulders, not looking up from the table. "Kaitlin..." Finally the girl looked up at Bruce, but her gaze never strayed from whatever was directly in front of her.  
  
"I don't know," she answered softly. "Can I sit down now?"  
  
Amy looked at Bruce, who lifted his shoulder just the slightest bit, indicating his own confusion.  
  
"Um, yeah, sure, go ahead." Amy tapped her fingers together slowly, and then addressed Mr. Leigh again. "All right, let's hear it. What did she do?" Miss Freeman began to protest, but Amy waved her down. "No, Miss Freeman, she had her chance. We'll hear it from Mr. Leigh, and then I'll decide if I will hear anything else."  
  
"Thank you, your honor." Amy raised an eyebrow, but his tone was void of any sarcasm. "Kaitlin Brenner has, as you say, been a model student, et cetera, but what WE are concerned with is the recent trend her actions have been taking, especially over the past few months. It began with small things, minor cases of shoplifting, an occasional streak of skipping school... she's appeared before a few juvenile court judges already, and was always released because her offenses were not severe enough to warrant anything more than perhaps disciplinary action from her parents or community service or fines. However, a week ago, Hartford PD got an anonymous call that there was an intruder on the grounds of Kaitlin's school, and when they pulled up she was in the middle of throwing a brick at one of the classroom windows."  
  
"Your honor, this is absurd!" Miss Freeman stood up at this. "Mr. Leigh is giving you everything about the story that serves HIS interests, but Kaitlin deserves to have her side of the story told before you hear any more!"  
  
"All right, all right, all right." Amy sighed, and looked at Kaitlin, who was still staring straight ahead. "Um, I guess—I do want to hear more about this, so Mr. Van Exel, when can we do that?"  
  
"Wednesday at ten o'clock."  
  
"Wednesday at ten o'clock. I'll see everyone back here then." Amy leaned back in her chair as her courtroom emptied before her. Mr. Leigh picked up a very small folder that was his only paperwork for this case, took his briefcase, and walked out, already on his cell phone with someone from his office. Miss Freeman was speaking to Mr. and Mrs. Brenner while Kaitlin stood silent, staring at the door through which Mr. Leigh had just exited. Bruce was standing over Amy's shoulder. "What's next?"

NOTE: I know these chapters are pretty short, but I'm just uploading as I go, so... sorry about that, hope it's not bothering anyone too much. : )


	3. The CSO You Think You Know

Amy went into her chambers tiredly at the end of the day, closing the door most of the way behind her and dropping her files on the table before sinking into her desk chair. Her robe was hanging open and probably catching on the wheels of her chair, but she didn't have the energy to take it all the way off and hang it up just yet. A piece of paper fluttered from her pocked to the ground then, and she groaned and leaned over to pick it up.  
  
It was the message from David.  
  
"Ugh." She sank back into her seat, fingering the paper. She really should call him. Tonight wasn't good for her to go out, but she should let him know...  
  
The door opened slightly and Bruce came in studying a file intently. He made it a few steps into the room before he looked up. "Oh—Judge Gray. I'm sorry, I—I thought you went home."  
  
"I wish," she said as he took a seat in one of the chairs in front of her desk. "I need to return a phone call first, and then I'll be gone. Peter and Kyle and everyone are eating at our house tonight."  
  
"Everyone, hmm?" Bruce asked, and Amy immediately started trying to cover what she thought he meant.  
  
"Well, no—everyone—everyone except David, I mean, he's not—everyone, he just doesn't... come because..." Amy blushed in spite of herself and Bruce worked his jaw, staring at her desk.  
  
"I didn't say anything about—" he started, but Amy just kept going.  
  
"No, um... having David over generally proves to be a bad idea lately. Kind of awkward." She saw her CSO raise his head and crook an eyebrow at her teasingly, but the shock in his eyes at her real meaning was evident. "You—you know, because of Lauren and Victor." She tried to cover hastily, but she wasn't fooling anyone.  
  
Finally Bruce shook his head and got up. "Well, I guess you'd better make that call then." They both knew to whom the call would be.  
  
"No—Bruce, you don't have to go..." Amy said, even though she knew he did. She wasn't going home until she called David, and she couldn't call David while Bruce was sitting there. But she didn't want him to go, even though he was standing in front of her desk with that damned inscrutable expression on his face that she could never seem to figure out. And then he spoke.  
  
"You can't have it both ways, Judge Gray."  
  
"Why not?" She asked softly. Bruce sighed, and suddenly Amy was mad. "No, Bruce, I really want to know. What are you saying, I can't have both ways—what, that I have to CHOOSE between the two of you? Bruce, that's ridiculous!"  
  
"I did not say that," Bruce said calmly, refusing to rise to the bait.  
  
"Semantics," Amy growled implacably.  
  
"Judge Gray, I asked you to leave me out of anything to do with David McLaren—"  
  
"What harm would it do—"  
  
"What GOOD would it do? You—" Bruce scoffed, trying to stay in control. "I've been here through a lot of your boyfriends, and until this one, I tried to help you. I tried to tell you the Karate Kid was too young for you—I made it VERY clear how I felt about Stu Collins, and you want to know the best part? You always seem to come to the same conclusions yourself, but you just HAVE to do it the hard way, don't you?"  
  
"Well you know what, Bruce, maybe I didn't want advice, you know, maybe I just wanted someone to listen."  
  
"Yeah. But if I'm your FRIEND, I'm not going to just listen and not say anything while you run full-speed into another big mistake."  
  
"So instead you're just not going to listen at all? Is that going to make it better?"  
  
"Somehow or another I'm going to get through to you," he said, turning and going for the open door. As he reached for the handle he left his parting shot without even turning to look at her. "Hopefully it'll be before you sleep with him, because that seems to be the point where it all goes downhill."  
  
"Then I guess you're going to need a better plan of action," Amy said, now in full-out spitfire mode and standing, walking around the desk. "Because you're too late."  
  
In one smooth motion, Bruce let the door slam closed with a crash that Amy thought would certainly break the glass. When he turned to her, his eyes were as angry as she'd ever seen them, and his hands were clenched into fists. He took two steps back into the room, where Amy was standing, her robe still hanging at her sides.  
  
"I have ASKED you to leave me out of this more times than I can count. But since you keep bringing it up to me, fine, I'll just—" Bruce shook his head. "Amy, what are you doing?"  
  
"Right now? I'm having an argument with someone who I THOUGHT was my best friend, but who does nothing but ridicule my choices, who at the last second decides he's not coming to my wedding and then who won't even tell me why, and—I NEEDED you that day, Bruce! And you weren't there."  
  
"Well maybe my not being there was just another way of 'ridiculing your choices,'" Bruce snapped. "And who could blame me when the choices you make circle around sleeping with every guy you meet, like—" He bit back whatever he'd been about to say, but it was too late.  
  
"Like what?" Amy's voice was low and dangerous. Bruce shook his head and turned to leave again. "Bruce." He turned back slightly. "Take Monday off."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I'm giving you Monday off. I'll see you Tuesday."  
  
"Judge Gray, I don't see why this conversation has to—"  
  
"Bruce, you've been acting strange all day. Even this morning, you said—" Amy sighed. "Just, something out of character. Just take an extra day, all right? Maybe it'll... maybe it'll help."  
  
Bruce looked straight into her eyes and finally nodded. "Fine. I'll see you Tuesday."  
  
It didn't help matters that he nearly ran into David McLaren on his way out of her chambers. Amy groaned and covered her eyes with her hands as he walked in.  
  
"It's good to see you too," he said, closing the door behind him. Amy shook her head and managed a small smile at him, dropping her hands. "Well that's a little better. You ok?" He asked, leaning in and kissing her.  
  
"Yeah, yeah." Amy slid her robe off and went to hang it in the closet. David looked at the doorway that he had just passed Bruce in.  
  
"You want me to beat him up for you?"  
  
"That's very sweet," Amy said, gathering her things, "but very unnecessary. Everything's fine."  
  
"Ok. You ready to go, then?"  
  
"Oh... everything's fine except for that," she amended, locking her door and walking with him to the parking garage. "I'm sorry, David, I didn't have a chance to call you, but..."  
  
"You can't go out."  
  
"Not tonight, I'm sorry—"  
  
"No, it's ok, it was short notice anyway. It was just a thought." He let his arm circle her waist as the elevator took them down. "What about tomorrow? Can I have you for the day? There's a baseball game at the park, and I know Victor was planning on going with his friends—"  
  
"With Lauren?" Amy asked, stopping by her car.  
  
"No, with some other guys. So they'll be off skateboarding, and we can watch the game... you like baseball?"  
  
"I could," Amy said, finally smiling.  
  
"Good." He leaned down to kiss her goodbye. "Mmm... I'll pick you up at eleven, ok?"  
  
"Ok. Bye."  
  
David waited for Amy to get in her car and then waved as she pulled out before making his own way home.


	4. Dinner with the Grays

"Sorry!" Amy rushed into the kitchen and kissed the top of Lauren's head.

"Oh, Amy, you've been late for dinner before, it's not the end of the world," Maxine said, pulling a lasagna out of the over. "Besides, everyone else was late too."

"You almost done with your homework?"

"Mom, it's Friday..." Lauren complained from her stool.

"Sure, but if you get it done tonight then you can do more stuff over the weekend without having to worry about it." Amy said over her shoulder, pulling the wineglasses out of the cabinet.

"Oh! If I finish tonight can I go to the park with Chanel tomorrow?"

Amy put down the glasses and turned to look at her daughter.

"You walked right into that one, Amy," Maxine said as she carried the steaming dish into the dining room.

"Uh—yeah, I guess—" Amy stumbled, nodding. "But—but get it all done, ok?"

"Yeah." Lauren slammed her book closed and followed her mother into the other room. Amy followed and saw an unexpected guest sitting in the chair next to her daughter's.

"Hi, Sean," she said, looking at Maxine.

"Sean is under the misguided notion that he can no longer continue to date Courtney because I am having a disagreement with her father," Maxine said in explanation, "and broke a date tonight, after which I found him moping around the office and forced him to either call her back and meet her or come home for dinner with us. And here he is."

"I could go, if—"

"Sean, don't be ridiculous," Maxine said, sitting down at the head of the table. "You're practically family. And however incorrect your dating theories are, I do appreciate the thought... even though—"

"All right! All right, Sean did something nice, Aunt Max is having problems accepting, nothing new under the sun." Kyle said, coming in and sitting across from Sean. "Where's Peter?"

"Just hang on," came a voice from the living room. "We got a little held up."

"We?" Maxine asked, and Peter walked in with Shelby. "Shelby! How lovely to see you again."

"Hi, Mrs. Gray. Peter—Peter insisted I come with him for dinner after rehearsal. I told him I could just go home, or—if it's an imposition—"

"Nonsense!" Sean exclaimed, a bit sarcastically. "The Grays enjoy their dinner guests ever so."

"Only with a little garnish," Kyle clarified, and Vincent dropped into his chair across from Maxine. "You forgot the garnish."

"I'm interesting enough without it. Sean, good to see you again." Vincent shook his hand and Lauren and Amy sat down, gesturing for Shelby to sit across from Lauren.

"Well!" Maxine said, beginning to serve the food. "Here we all are. Now, I know Sean's story, but Peter, how did your friend come to be with us tonight?"

"Shelby's apartment was robbed," Peter said.

"Robbed? By who?" Lauren asked, panicking.

"By WHOM," Maxine and Amy corrected together.

"No, just my 17-year-old niece and her crazy friends," Shelby explained to Lauren. "It wasn't robbed, they just came over and ate all my food."

"We were going to go to a restaurant, but you can't beat mom's lasagna." Peter chimed in, raising his glass to Maxine.

"Thank you, Peter," she said, returning the toast.

"Hey, you know, if you guys ever need another singer," Sean started, but Maxine jumped in.

"Now, Sean, let's not make Peter and Shelby talk about work all night." She put down her glass. "Amy. How was your day?"

"They don't have to talk about work, but I DO?"

"You don't have to talk about work if you don't want to, you can—how is Mr. McLaren?"

"Oh, this is gonna be fun, you'll enjoy this," Kyle said to Vincent while Lauren coughed loudly into her napkin on nothing in particular.

"Well—all right, fine," Maxine said. "What—you know who I haven't seen in a very long time? Mr. Van Exel. How is he?"

"So Kyle, how's the bomb squad?" Amy asked in a desperate attempt to steer conversation in any other direction.

"It's not a bomb squad, it's a strike team." He corrected. "Always an adventure, at any rate—we had a situation blow up today, but—"

"Something blew up?" Lauren gasped.

"No, it's—you know," Kyle said, pointing his fork at his family members. "This job is not that dangerous. I probably won't get hurt nearly as much as I did at the hospital."

"At least at the hospital you had Dr. Lily looking after you," Peter said, spearing a piece of lettuce with his fork.

"I thought her name was Heather," Lauren said, and conversation stopped.

"That was someone else," Peter said suddenly, at the same time as Amy's "Does anyone want more wine?" and Shelby's "Did I miss something?" Maxine just continued to eat, very pointedly ignoring whatever had just happened.

"How IS Heather?" Vincent finally asked, and Kyle put down his fork. Vincent looked at his plate. "No, I'm—I'm just asking because—Carol called the other day and... she showed up on our doorstep looking for me and wanting to talk about you, apparently... or... something."

"Did Carol mention—anything about—how she looked?" Kyle asked, dreading the answer.

"No, didn't say anything, not about—" Amy cleared her throat and he thought better of finishing his sentence. "No, she—so Peter, how's the band coming along?"

"It is FANTASTIC," Peter said, "and we're thinking about trying out another city sometime soon, see how we're received."

"We think we could do really well in small clubs in maybe Chicago, maybe try St. Louis sometime, just to see." Shelby said, and Peter beamed at her. Lauren opened her mouth, but Kyle quickly cut her off.

"Why did she want to talk to YOU about me?" He asked Vincent. "She couldn't just talk to me directly? Do you know she ran off and I haven't seen her in—"

"Lauren, that is a lovely shirt you're wearing," Maxine said loudly. "Is it new?"

"Victor helped me pick it out," she said proudly. Amy choked on her wine.

"Did he?" Maxine patted Amy on the back. "How lucky to have a boyfriend with such taste in clothes."

"Having taste in clothes generally means something else when it comes to boy—" Sean started, and then withered under the glares from three generations of Grays.

"Ok. So. Who's this Heather character again?"

"No one," Kyle said, staring at his plate. Vincent toyed with his fork and said nothing. Then all of a sudden, Kyle threw his napkin on his plate. "I can't believe you kissed her."

"Who? You kissed who?" Amy asked, trying to keep up. "He kissed Heather," Kyle said, still looking at Vincent.

"She kissed me," Vincent said in an attempt to defend himself.

"You kissed each other—I was there, ok? Just because you and Carol were—"

"Who's Carol?" Shelby whispered to Peter.

"Mom, do YOU like this shirt?" Lauren asked, worried, and Amy reassured her quickly.

Maxine got up to answer the door.

Sean chewed thoughtfully, listening to three different conversations at once.

Kyle stood up and pushed his chair back and finished his argument with Vincent. "Look, I know what I saw, ok? And I know the facts. So don't go trying to pin it on anyone else, when you're the one to blame." He spun around and took one step toward the living room before Maxine walked in with the person who'd just knocked on the door, and he found himself face to face with Lily.

"Ooh." Said Peter softly to Shelby. "Now, THAT I did not see coming."


	5. Eighty Percent of the Time

Maxine Gray is a force to be reckoned with.  
  
So is Dr. Lily.  
  
On this particular occasion, Lily's mood was worse, and she didn't want to stay, and so Maxine was unable to add to her dinner guest collection and Kyle stayed only a few more minutes before getting up and excusing himself. Lily had told him where she was staying and that she wanted to talk with him, and that was all. Everyone knew where Kyle was going.  
  
Not long after that, Shelby began to yawn slightly and Peter offered to drive her home. Vincent disappeared up the stairs and Sean waited for Amy and Lauren to finish eating before helping Maxine clean up. Lauren ran upstairs to her homework and Amy was sitting outside with the remains of her wine.  
  
Sean picked up a dishtowel.  
  
"Leave it, Sean," Maxine said without looking. "Peter or Vincent can get them later."  
  
"You know, Maxine," he said, folding the rag back up. "I didn't decide to break up with Courtney just because you're fighting with Ignacio."  
  
"I am not fighting with him. I am not speaking with him."  
  
"She was just too—girly, I don't know, with the giggling and those sound effects she put on my computer... she didn't even think twice about it when her father started dating you and was still married to her mother."  
  
"And you didn't think twice about whether I would be seeing a man who was still married, did you Sean?" Maxine was standing on the other side of the room, her back to him. "You two deserve each other."  
  
"Maxine..." Sean said, going toward her, but she turned and offered him her tightest smile.  
  
"Go home, Sean." She said. "I will see you Monday."  
  
Sean hesitated, then barged right ahead. "Look, I know you're not mad at me because if you were really and truly angry I'd probably be shriveled up in a corner somewhere. So? I made a mistake. You, of all people, should understand how that could happen occasionally." Maxine turned to face him and he stammered. "You—people other than—yourself."  
  
"Sean," she said, walking toward him. "You have been a good friend to me. You even became a good boss once you learned to stop talking in percentages. But—"  
  
"I need to butt out," Sean finished.  
  
"You know, Sean, it is truly remarkable how you continually think you know what I'm going to say and then are continually wrong," Maxine said. "I understand that you are trying to take care of me, and I appreciate that, more than you can imagine. But when you hurt yourself..." she moved closer to him. "When you hurt yourself, you hurt me." Sean looked like he didn't know what to say. "Just think about it. Maybe Courtney ISN'T right for you. But decide without bringing me into that particular equation, please."  
  
"Maxine, it's not something I can just ignore..."  
  
"Please try."  
  
Sean looked at her for a few seconds and shook his head, leaving. Maxine picked up a glass, drained the last of the wine into it, and went out the back door.  
  
"Did Sean go home?" Amy asked. Maxine offered no answer as she sank into the porch swing with her drink. "You know, mom, he's just trying to help."  
  
"So, I presume, is Mr. Van Exel." Maxine said, looking out at the garden. Amy sighed and held her glass out for Maxine to touch hers against.  
  
"Touché."


	6. The Good Doctor

Kyle knocked on the door of Room 458 and rocked back on his heels while he waited for an answer. Lily's note with the hotel's address and her room number was crumpled and sweaty in his pocket, and it had taken him a good fifteen minutes sitting in a parking space downstairs before he could get up the courage to come up.

She knew.

He knew she knew.

She knew he knew she knew, and doubtless he was about to find out why she knew and how she knew and what EXACTLY she knew because it occurred to him suddenly, as the door opened, that there were two things she could know and neither was something he wanted to get into just then.

So what was he doing there?

But Lily was standing in front of him again, and he had to stop thinking and take two steps in and hug her, but she only let it go for a few seconds before pulling back and closing the door behind him.

"Hey," Kyle said, hands in his pockets.

Lily folded her arms. "Hi. Have a seat."

"Why do I feel like I've been called into the principal's office?"

"Because you feel guilty," Lily said, sitting on an armchair.

"And why is that?"

"I think you know," she said, not giving an inch. Kyle leaned back into the couch and folded his hands, and they stared each other down for a while longer. Finally, Lily sighed and looked at the carpet.

"I went by St. Mike's earlier today. They said you quit."

"I did."

"So I gather." Lily moved from the armrest and sat on the chair, leaning forward so that she and Kyle were only a few feet apart, facing each other. "Kyle, what happened?"

"Well, I walked in." Kyle sat forward in mock seriousness and Lily rolled her eyes, already knowing what was coming. "And when I saw someone with sufficient influence over the employment of all the miserable residents and nurses, I said something along the lines of "I quit"—I may have been more eloquent, but it suits our purposes—and then I walked out. It was really very simple."

"That is not what I mean, and you know it."

"Lily, what are you doing here?"

"Kyle…" She sighed, but his jaw was set and she knew him well enough to know she was in for an uphill battle. "I'm in town for a few days for a meeting with the people over at St. Mike's, just checking up on things. How have they been running since I left?"

"There's no comparison," Kyle said, and Lily was left without words at the seriousness in his tone. "But… how's your new job going?"

"It's incredible," she said to her arms, still crossed. "No residents second-guessing me, talking behind my back, having affairs with other drug-addict residents—"

"You had to play the Heather card."

"From what I understand, that card is still in play." Lily said shortly.

"What do you mean by that?"

"News travels in the medical community, Kyle, you have to have noticed that. Besides, I was just at St. Mike's today. Your old friend Lloyd was very happy to share all the information I wanted."

"What did he tell you?" Kyle asked, leaning forward.

"Let's just say the world should fear for itself when yet another mini-McCarty is running around in a few months."

"No, Lily…" Kyle reached out before he could think twice and grabbed her hand, making her look at him. "It's not true, Lily, she was lying. She's just—she's a liar, I talked to her father, and—she was lying, she was, and after all that, and I walked in on her making out with my cousin and then she ran off and—I'm done with her." Lily's eyes were beginning to glisten. "I'm done with her."

"That would certainly be the smart decision," she said, ducking her head to try and hide the tiny smile that was beginning to form.

"And why is that?" He asked, tilting his head at her and beginning to grin.

"Well—because, Kyle, you're a recovering addict, and—" Kyle moved over to sit next to her on the couch. "And you know that when you're with her there's more—more of a tendency for you to slip, and—you've already—"

Kyle reached up and pushed a strand of hair back behind her ear. "Why is it such a good idea?"

Lily was unable to articulate the rest of her reasons, and so she settled for reaching out and pulling his head toward hers, kissing him as he pushed her back into the cushions.


	7. Waking Up Gray

The sun was shining directly into Amy's eyes when she woke up, and a few hours later she was still squinting at everyone.

"Amy, you are not sick, you are not getting out of this baseball game," Maxine said from the kitchen counter. Lauren had already left for the park with Chanel and David would be coming in a few minutes to take Amy to the game.

"I'm not trying to get out of it, I'm—" she looked at herself. "I'm not dressed for a baseball game, am I?"

"You are not."

"Damn."

"It's 80 degrees outside, Amy, for heaven's sakes. If you won't put on some shorts, at least do something about your sleeves." Amy stared at the plaid shirt she had thrown on in an effort to look casual. "Do you want to get heat stroke?"

Maxine chuckled as her daughter ran up the stairs and the doorbell rang.

"Ma, would you get that?" Amy yelled from upstairs.

"Of course I will," Maxine said conversationally to the plant on the kitchen table. "Because if I don't get it, Amy will not be able to make her entrance, and if Amy is not able to make her entrance, then it is very possible that the world may end in a large and flaming—" She swung the door open, and David was standing there. "Fireball."

"Uh... iceberg." He said, looking at her skeptically and juggling a baseball from one hand to the other. "Am I playing right?"

"Left," Maxine said, stepping back and gesturing for him to enter. "Amy will be right down."

"Sorry!" she said just then, coming down the front stairs in a tank top and jeans.

"Well, that's somewhat better," Maxine said, but Amy glared at her and then smiled at David as he leaned down to kiss her. "You have fun."

"Your mother was making me play a strange word game," Maxine heard David tell his date before the door closed, and she grinned to herself before cupping her hand to her ear, realizing that there was no one home and that it was completely silent, and waltzing herself back to the kitchen for blissful solitary newspaper reading.

-----

David led Amy through the park, between the multiple baseball fields and concession stands, and around a square of grass where any number of people could be found meeting friends or

"Bruce?" Amy spun around so quickly David almost kept walking without her. "What are you doing here?"

"Judge Gray."

"You make him call you Judge Gray even outside the office?"

Amy squinted as a woman came up behind Bruce. "Is that Zola Knox?"

Bruce looked at her as if she'd grown a second head. "No."

David looked from one person to another, as Bruce's friend stopped beside him and Amy seemed to be at a loss for words. "Well—the game'll be starting." He said, gesturing to the field.

"I'll see you Tuesday, Judge Gray." Bruce said, leaving in the other direction with the woman Amy couldn't stop staring at.

"Bruce..." she started, but he didn't turn around.

David raised an eyebrow at her as she sighed and walked with him to the field. "Tuesday?"

"Don't ask." Amy grumbled, and David smiled at her and gestured to the bleachers he was headed toward. "Wait—what, up THERE?"

"Higher the better," David said, extending a hand to help her up. "Better view up there."

"Ok..." Amy took his hand and climbed the last few risers to sit next to him. David turned and looked at her carefully.

"Hmm..."

"What?" Amy looked around self-consciously.

"No, just—" he took off his baseball cap and put it on her head.

"David, you're—"

"Just wear it, ok?" He said, grinning at her. "Trust me. You look adorable."

"I do not."

"It's protection," David reassured her, turning back to the field, where the game was starting. "You'll thank me in the morning."

-----

Kyle rolled over and yawned widely before realizing that the bed he was in was not familiar, the ceiling he was staring at wasn't familiar, and he was just a little more rested than usual. He looked at the clock.

It was already noon.

"Ugh. It is not possible I slept this long," he said, looking over at the other side of the bed and realizing that though it had been slept in, it was no longer occupied. The previous night slowly re-entered his memory, and he sat up slowly. "Lily?"

"Yeah." She walked out of the bathroom, putting an earring in. "You're awake."

"What are you doing?" Kyle asked, looking for his shorts. Lily raised an eyebrow at him and kicked them up to the bed from where they lay on the floor near the entrance to the bedroom of her suite.

"I'm getting ready to leave. I'm having lunch with a friend of mine in a little while."

"Wait..." Kyle was starting to dress, trying to catch up with someone who'd obviously been awake much longer than he had, and he was still clueless. "Wait... what?"

Lily put her hand down, earring in place. "I'm going to lunch with a friend of mine. I'm in town, so we're going to lunch."

"No, I got that, I—ok, so do I know her?"

"He used to go to school with me." Kyle raised an eyebrow at her and Lily sighed. "Kyle..."

"No, it's fine, I wouldn't want last night to get in the way of your date."

"It's not a date, Kyle, it's lunch. And frankly, I wasn't aware last night involved a contract of some kind." Kyle just stared at her, and Lily sighed, then walked over and kissed him gently before continuing. "Listen. It's not that I don't have a great time with you. I do. And whenever I see you, I feel... well, I FEEL, and that's something I've tried to avoid. It makes practicing medicine kind of difficult sometimes, you may recall."

"Ok, but this isn't medicine," Kyle said. "This is two people who care about each other—I KNOW you care about me, and I care about you and I don't want you to be going around caring... about other guys."

"You are aware of how juvenile that sounds," Lily said, walking back into the bathroom to finish getting ready. "We're both grown-ups, Kyle, and we've been through this before."

"Yeah," he said, appearing in the bathroom door and watching her fix her hair. "And then you ran away to another hospital."

"I'm still at another hospital," Lily reminded him, meeting his eyes in the mirror. "Let's not forget that. It's just another reason we can't do this. You and I both know that the strain of a long-distance relationship would never hold up; you've got planeloads of emotional baggage, and I have never been good at relationships. Especially since you quit medicine, it's like I know you even less than I did before!"

Kyle folded his arms across his chest and Lily turned and faced him, determined to have his say. "Look, I know you're surprised at what I did. But you haven't been here. You don't know... my father died. And—and he had all this baggage, a lot of the same stuff you think I have, and it built and built because he was stuck doing a job he only did because it paid the bills and it was a steady income. He had a passion, Lily, something he would have loved to do, but he didn't because he was too worried about responsibilities and what everyone else thought about him. I quit medicine because I had to find my own passion, because I am NOT going to turn into my father."

Lily shook her head and looked at him, her eyes slightly glassy. "And why are you so convinced that medicine can't be your passion? Kyle, you—" he started to look away, and she took a few steps forward, touching his face, turning it towards her. "You are an incredible doctor. I always knew I could work with you, even when you were just starting with me at St. Mike's. You've only gotten better. And I've seen the look on your face when you had an operation that went well, and I've seen the look on your face after an operation that didn't go well, and—you have it here," and she moved her hand down to his chest. "And there are not a lot of doctors in the world who know as much about their own heart as they do about the hearts of their patients.

"Kyle, one of the reasons I came down here is because we have an opening at the hospital I'm at now, and I wanted you to fill it. I wanted you to work with me again, and this time you'd have an actual hospital with working equipment and machines and a nursing staff that's even better than the one at St. Mike's. I told them I was going to come and offer you the job in person. I haven't told them yet that you've quit." Lily's voice became forceful, and Kyle just watched and listened, unable to speak. "It hasn't been that long. You can still come back. Come out, just for a trial run, see if you like it. Because Kyle, even if medicine isn't the passion you're looking for—" her voice broke.

"Lily..."

"Well." She shook her head, turning away quickly and going back to the sink, washing her hands like he'd seen her do so many times before. "You can think about it. I leave tomorrow afternoon so I can be back to work Monday. Just... let me know. I have—I have to go, though, I'm gonna be late... um." She started out, leaned up and awkwardly kissed his cheek, and bit her lip. "Um, just—think about it... ok?"

Kyle just looked at her, and she ducked her head, walking all the way out of the hotel room. It wasn't until after she was gone that he allowed himself to sag against the doorframe of the bathroom, thinking hard, and finally realizing that he was still standing there in only his underwear.


End file.
